Hazari Lal

🪔 About

Pandit Hazarilal was a renowned exponent and Guru of the Jankiprasad Kathak Gharana of Banaras. He was adopted at a young age by Nritya Samrat Ashiq Hussain, a magnetic film star and exponent of the Jankiprasad style. When Ashiq Hussain migrated to Pakistan during Partition, Pt. Hazarilal was left as the torchbearer of the Gharana in newly independent India. He faced adversity, injury, and a lack of patronage while working to revive this rare style on stage. After spending some years as a choreographer in the Pune film industry, Guruji returned to Mumbai and began teaching at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chowpatty, and other schools. Pandit Hazarilal was an artist par excellence and a popular and respected teacher, known for making difficult compositions seem easy and motivating students with phrases like 'bahut achche' and 'ban ke nacho.' His key contribution was reinventing Kathak abhinaya for the modern stage, creating a new vocabulary of movement and expression to connect with larger audiences. His compositions are noted for their continuous flow of movement and expression. Beginning in 1974, Guruji traveled extensively with his wife and student, Smt. Sunayana Hazarilal, to the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, and the Middle East, where the Jankiprasad Kathak style gained worldwide acclaim. In 1969, Pt. Hazarilal founded Natawari to transmit the priceless heritage of the Jankiprasad Kathak style. He passed away in 1992. Awards & Honours: Nritya Acharya, Recognition for preserving Kathak's pristine purity, Acharya Sharangdev Fellowship.